Fable II: Retold Chapter 1
Childhood Deep in the cold city of Bowerstone in the closed off Old Town, it is in the middle of December and as you go to a small clearing where Castle Fairfax could be seen two children are seen huddle by a makeshift fire. It could be clearly seen that they were very cold due to the lack of clothes they wore. Rose a thirteen year old girl with pigtails in her hair is watching the fire closely in hopes that it doesn't go out as her younger brother Sparrow keeps as close as possible to keep himself warm but not close to burn himself as bird guano lands on his head snapping his out of his thoughts. "Eww" Sparrow said as he tried to get the bird droppings out of his hair. "Oh what was that…..oh yuck, well I hear that's luck like finding a four-leaf clover, although I think I prefer the clover" Rose said as Sparrow wiped his hands on his already filthy pants. "Yeah I'll say" Sparrow said getting back to keeping warm "Oh look Little Sparrow" Rose said as she looks towards the snow covered castle in the distances as Sparrow looks towards it. "Castle Fairfax looks so nice in the snow" Rose said as the dream that Sparrow and Rose has hand many times is brought back into another one of their conversations. "Imagine the grand dining hall, bet Lord Lucien has them roast up this time of year" Rose said as Sparrow can almost imagine a magnificent castle decorated for the holiday season. "But he must be really lonely since his wife and little girl died, in the big castle all by himself, if only we can live there" Rose says as Sparrow wakes up from his daydream. "Yeah well we can't Rose because were stuck here in this place" Sparrow says as the sounds of people cheering in the distances get both Sparrow and Rose attention. "What is going on over there?" Rose asked. "Beats me" Sparrows said as the cheering gets louder. "Come with me little brother" Rose says as she took off ahead. "Right behind you" Sparrow said as he run after his sister past a large tree and into an ally way as he hears a disgusting old voice that always makes Sparrow want to puke. "Hello there young Rose you look hungry, have you reconsidered my offer?" the old fart Arfurasked as Sparrow got ready to kick the disgusting man in the groin but Rose spoke. "We'll never be that hungry! The answer is no" Rose says with disgust in her voice. "You'll be back and I'll be waiting for yaw" he said. 'Yeah right, that will be one cold day in hell when that happens' Sparrow thought. "Come on Little Sparrow let's see what going on" Rose said as him and his sister ran past the disgusting fart and Rose muttered under her breath "that filthy creep, I hate him!" Rose said. Arfuris one of Nicky the Nickname men and work for the prostitution area, he has made an offer for Rose to be one of his prostitute. The Very idea of his sister being one of those disgusting floozies make Sparrow stomach turn but he's proud that Rose wouldn't go so low to sell her skin to creepy men. Once they approached a crowd of people. "Oh it's just a trader" Rose said with a little disappointment as Sparrow could see a caravan filled with some of the strangest contraptions Sparrow ever seen as a sign that read "Mystical Murgo" hung over it. "I can't see anything past this lot" Rose said as she tried to look past the adults that blocked their way. "Gather round for the sale of the century!" Murgo the Trader said with a strange accent that Sparrow couldn't completely understand. Sparrow then found a small hold to see what the man was selling. "Ladies and gentlemen, I have traveled the land accumulating wondrous and mysterious objects, which are now offered to you for the modish price of one gold" Murgo said as he rubbed his hands together like a creepy villain. "What an odd man" Sparrow said as he heard his sister giggle as Murgo pointed towards a mirror. "Consider this, this is truly a magical mirror for as long as you look into it, it will make you beautiful" as Sparrow rolled his eye and some poor bloc spoke. "I'll take it!" he said as Murgo had this mischievous smile. "Very wise, now just remember the magic only works if you look at it in complete darkness" Murgo said as Sparrow shook his head. 'What an idiot I'm only eight and even I know that's a load of crap' Sparrow thought as Murgo looked towards a golden music box with a key in its side "Ah now this is truly a marvel, this small unassuming box is actually a bow created by the ancients, as used by the old kingdom rulers themselves, turn the handle three times and you should be granted a single wish" Murgo said as Sparrow heard enough and look over to his sister who had an annoyed look. "There's no such thing as magic" she said as Sparrow nodded his head an agreement fully unaware of the hooded woman that stood behind Rose. "We live in grim times indeed if the young are unwary to believe in magic, most children your age believe eagerly" the woman said turning to the children showing her pale white eyes and a faint scar that went across them. "Look I can see your eyes are bad, but I'm telling you that music box is rubbish" Rose said as the woman smiled towards them. "That's what the seller thinks, he has no idea what he's stumbled upon but you have an inkling don't you? Some part of you wants to believe its magic" she said as she started to walk away leaving Sparrow and Rose confused "You really think it could be?" Rose asked with hope in her voice as Sparrow hoped it was true as well, as the woman stopped walked and looked towards them. "For five gold coins you could have your answer" she said as Sparrow saw his sister shocked expression. "For five gold coins we can eat for a week" she said as the woman continued to walk slowly. "Listen to me Rose at the end of the week you and your Little Sparrow would be no closer to your dream no closer to the inside of that beautiful castle" she said as she walked farther away. 'How the hell does she know our names?' Sparrow thought as he looked towards his sister. "What if it is real? Bet we could get five gold pieces and maybe this could be a way out of here after all, what do we have to lose little Sparrow?" Rose said as Sparrow thought about it for a moment. 'We could lose a week worth of food and be stuck with a useless music box or we could finally live in a castle' Sparrow thought as he decided. "Ah what the hell let's do" he said as his sister smiled down at him. "Come on, there must be someone around here who will pay us gold to do something" Rose said as they walked down the road past the caravan and towards the entrance gates to Old Town in search for gold. After taking a task for Derek the guard and taking a picture from a weird man named Barnum and earning their first gold piece. Rose and Sparrow were walking down the alley the arrest warrants flew down in as they heard a dog whining and both the siblings ran down towards the source of the dogs cry. As children were also running past them "Rick got a dog and he's going to kick the carp out" they said a Sparrow saw a dog cornered to a wall as a large boy around Rose age stood in front of it pointing a wooden sword at it. "What's the matter doggy? Does it hurt?" he said about to hit the dog again as Rose stood behind him with her hands on her hips. "Hey! What the hell do you think you're doing!" Rose yelled catch the boy attention. "Having a bit of fun what's it to you?" he said heading budding Rose as she hit the ground crying out in pain as the children all stood shocked. "He hit a girl" one of the children said. "Yeah and now I'm going to hit another one!" he said looking towards Sparrow. "That what you think" Sparrow said pulling out a toy sword, the only thing he has left from his parents along with a toy gun. Sparrow then blocked Rick swings as he pushed him back and smacked in five times in the face giving the bully a bloody nose. "Ow, stop it, leave me alone you nutter!" he said crying as he ran off as Sparrow ran over to his sister as children cheered. "Ow! Did you see that? That lunatic sought me right in the head!" Rose said rubbing a red spot on her forehead as Sparrow attached his toy sword back onto his back. "Thanks for your help, I could have taken him though" Rose said as Sparrow smiled. "Yeah I know you can sis" he said as both their attention was brought back to the scared dog that was still shaking. "Ah poor thing had a horrible time" Rose said getting closer. "Careful Rose injured animals can be dangerous" Sparrow said as Rose completely ignored his warning. "Don't be scared we won't hurt you" Rose said as the dog whined a little "what you need is someone nice to look after you" she said as the dog barked and wagged its tail at us as Rose had this look that said I want this "Oh we can't keep you, we barely have food for ourselves" she said as dog sat and put its head down "well I'm sorry but we can't, now you just rest" she said looking over to Sparrow "come on little Sparrow let's go" she said as they started walking but Sparrow petted the dog head as it looked up towards him. "Don't worry I know you'll find someone nice" he said catching up to Rose as they walked furfure down the alley. After killing a bunch of beetle, and getting Pete the bum booze back and handing it over to his friend Betty the kids had four warrants as they saw the dog from before with a paper in front of him. "There's that dog again" Rose said as Sparrow picked up the paper and saw it was a warrant. "Rose look" he said handing it to her. "Hey he found one for us, such a good boy" Rose said petting his head. "Smart dog" Sparrow said. "Oh I know your sweet but I told you before we can't keep you, come on Little Sparrow" Rose said as they got ready to return the warrants to the Derek. Just as they reached the alley ahead the man from before Arfur blocked their path with anger filled in his eyes. "Stop right there you little brats!" Arfur said as Rose and Sparrow grunted in disgust "Listen creep I told you know this morning" Rose said. "Shut it girl this isn't about that, those warrens you're collecting I want them" he said. "So does are friend the guard" Rose said. "Yeah but you're giving them to me otherwise there'll be trouble" he said. "There'll be trouble alright, you take these and I'll tell my friend what you really want" Rose said. "All right you little hard case, how much is he giving you, a gold piece? I got one right here save you the walk back" he said Sparrow then looked towards Rose as he kicked Arfur where the light don't shine and ran past him as Arfur fell to the ground groaning as they made it back to Derek. "Have you found them?" he asked. "We sure did" Sparrow said handing him the warrants. "Thanks you're a life saver, now normally justice is its own reward but seeing how this isn't normal circumstances here's a gold piece" he said handing them there four coin. "That should sort out this town" Rose said as they walked towards a man looing up towards a balcony where a girl was looking down at him. After helping a man with no sense in romance get the girl the children got their last coin. "We did it, now we can buy the music box" Rose said as they rushed out of Belinda house. "Come on lets go buy that music box" Rose said as they rushed over to Murgo caravan. "Hello children" Murgo said. "Hello we've come to buy that music box" Rose said. "Very wise little one, go ahead and turn the handle but how about you go somewhere more quite like" he said handing us the box as Rose handed him the collected gold. "Let's go make our wish little Sparrow" Rose said as they hurried back to where the bird crapped on Sparrow head and placed the box and a stack of creates as Rose place the box and began to turn the handle. "I wish, I wish" Rose and Sparrow said together as Rose finish spinning the key as the top of the box opened and a yellow light flowed from the top and a beautiful music that Sparrow could recall from somewhere began to play as the box began to spin and the light turned red as the music began to play faster as it went faster and faster and suddenly disappeared into a bright light. "Huh, where did it go?" Rose asked as Sparrow looked around to see if anything happened. "Well this stinks" he said with disappointment. "Why are we still here?" Rose asked. "I don't know maybe it was a fake after all" Sparrow said as they began to walk back to their makeshift home. "Five gold pieces" Rose said. "Just disappeared into thin air" Sparrow said as Rose grunted in frustration "Let's just go to bed" she said. "Yeah I'm tired and I know you are too" Sparrow said. "I was so sure this was it, I had this feeling like we were going to get stuck in Old Town anymore" she said. "I know how you feel" Sparrow said. "Why didn't the box take it with us with it?" Rose asked as they reached their makeshift home. "I don't know" Sparrow said as the dog from before emerged and barked at them. "What are you doing here? I'm sure I didn't wish for you" she said looking over at her brother giving him a glare. "I didn't wish for him so don't give me that look" he said. "All right fine, welcome to our little paradise" she said walking over to her matt as Sparrow walked over to his as the dog rested in front of him. "Come one Sparrow go to bed" Rose said. "Night Rose" Sparrow said as his poor tired body fell asleep. After a few hours of sleep the barks of the children newly adopted dog awoke Rose as she saw a man standing in the entrance of their shack. "Oh all right just settle down angry stray dog" a guard said as Rose approached him. "Quite boy! What do you want?" Rose asked as the dog continued to bark and growled. "I work for Lord Lucien miss, he would very like to see you at his castle, and I've been sent to collect you" he said starting to walk away as joy overfilled Rose. "It did work our wish came true! Come one Little Sparrow wake up" she said shaking her little brother. "Five more minute Rose the sun not even up" Sparrow groaned as he sat up and rubbed his eyes as Rose turned to the dog. "It's all right doggy were going to Lord Lucien castle" Rose said with a lot of excitement as the dog whined and Sparrow looked over to his sister in shock. "We are?" Sparrow said. "We'll come back for you, I promise" Rose said petting the dog who seemed scared but not for himself but for his new masters as Rose ran past the dog and Sparrow remembered something as he ran over to Rose matt and grabbed her dairy and his toy weapons. "It's ok boy, once you get to the castle we'll give you a proper name and home and that's a promise" Sparrow said putting the dairy in his pocket and ran after Rose as the dog rested its head back down on the ground. Once he caught up with Rose they were loading her up into a carriage as Sparrow climbed in and sat next to Rose as their escort sat in front of them. "Let's go to the castle" Rose said. "Let's go!" the guard yelled as their drive got the horses to ride them to their new home. After an hour of ridding and walking through the castle, Rose and Sparrow stood in front of large doors just above a spiral staircase as the butler stood before them. "Evening Jeeves, here are the children Lord Lucien asked for" the guard said. "Excellent" the butler said looking down at the children "hello young masters" he said. "Hello sir" Rose said. "Evening sir" Sparrow said a little shy as he hid behind his sister. "If you'll follow me please" Jeeves said as the children followed him. "We look up at this castle every day and think how nice it is, we both do" Rose said as Sparrow looked around the pictures and spotted a man ahead that caught Sparrow attention. "But inside it's even more beautiful then I imagined" Rose said. "It is quite wonderful isn't it" Jeeves said as the man Sparrow saw from before began to walk past them and Sparrow got a good look at him. The man was black but what was strange was that he had blue line on his arm and face and wore an outfit with scrolls on it that made Sparrow believe this man could be a hero. "Ah hello Master Garth" Jeeves said as the man walked past him without a hello or even a grunt "ha man of few words" Jeeves said with annoyance in his voice. "Where is the grand dining hall?" Rose asked. "Oh in the north wing, Lord Lucien hasn't been in there since the tragic deaths of Lady Fairfax and little Emilia" Jeeves said. "Oh I heard, that was so awful" Rose said. "Yes he misses them terribly" Jeeves said with something in his voice that Sparrow found odd and knew this man was hiding something. "So where does he eat?" Rose asked. "Actually he takes most of his meals in his study he's in there all hours doing research" Jeeves said. "What does he research?" Rose asked. "On history mostly, Lord Lucien is keen on antiquity of all short but his chiefly interests is things related to the old kingdom" he said. "There was a trader in Old Town who said his stuff was from the Old Kingdom" Rose said as Sparrow saw something twinge in Jeeves eyes. "Yes, yes I believe Lord Lucien heard about that" he said. "We got a piece of it, made a wish and now were here" Rose said not even concerned that the man before them was hiding something as he stopped in front of the doors and turned to the children. "That wonderful now when you meet Lord Lucien you must show respect at all times, address him as my lord, speak only when spoken too" he said looking at them closely. "Yes sir" Rose said. "And do not mention Lady Fairfax or Emilia" he said pushing open the door. "Here we are, Lord Lucien the children are here" he said as Sparrow and Rose entered the room and Jeeves closed the doors behind them. A man with black hair with rolled up white sleeves stood by a desk as Sparrow got a bad feeling about this room. "Children it's comes to my attention that you have some short of magic box, may I see it?" he asked with his hands behind his back. "It vanished my lord we were winding it up we made a wish and it started to glow then it disappeared" Rose explain as Sparrow stood behind her "After you used it?" Lucien asked. "Yes my lord the man who sold it to us said it was magic" Rose said "The box is of no interest to me, what's remarkable is that you were able to use it, what was you wish?" He asked. "Oh uh" Rose said as she started to giggle in embarrassment. "Well speak up what did you wish for?" he asked. "To live in a castle like this one" Rose said. "Ha, perhaps that can be arranged, I'm working to rebuild...I'm working on something wonderful for which I need individuals with particular talents" he said as the kids looked at him with curiosity. "Lets us see if you possess them, would you kindly stand in the circle please?" he asked. "Uh" Rose said as her and her brother didn't like the sound of this. "I promise it won't hurt you" he said as Rose looked to her brother and he nodded his approval as they both walked onto a circle as it glowed blue. "What's that?" Rose asked. "Nothing to worry about" Lucien said examining the blue light that surrounded Rose and Sparrow. "It true it's in your blood you are heroes" he said. "Heroes? You mean like in the old stories?" Rose asked with excitement in her voice as Sparrow watches Lucien closely. Lucien then reached out and touched the blue light as his hand got burnt and the light turned red Lucien groaned "what are you?" he said rushing over to his desk and looked threw papers. "Right there something here" he said. "My lord what's happening? What that light?" Rose asked. "Quiet!" Lucien yelled as Sparrow knew that they were in danger. "Your heroes but you're not any of the three, one of you is the fourth" he said pulling out a gun as Sparrow heart began to pound with fear as Lucien pointed it at them and began muttering "nothing must stand in my way". "No wait don't! Noooooo!" Rose yelled as Sparrow was frozen in fear as the gun shot was heard and Rose collapsed to the ground. "Rose!" Sparrow yelled as tears welled in his eyes and he looked towards Lucien. "I can't allow you to live either...I'm sorry" he said as Sparrow backed away as he heard the first shot and felt the pain in his left shoulder as he fell out of the window and flew down towards Old Town as he hit a roof then landed on the ground as he said Rose name as he could see the red hooded woman and the dog. He knew he should be dead but he wasn't as he felt the dog lick his hand "death is not your destiny toady Little Sparrow" he heard the woman said before everything blacked out. Sparrow awoke in a strange bed as he could see the dog from before a he reached out and pet it warm fur and saw the woman from before. "Who are you? Where am I? Where's my sister?" he asked as he saw his bandaged hands and saw bandages covering most of his body. "My name is Theresa and you are in a gypsy camp next to Bower Lake, and your sister is dead Lucien killed her and attempted to kill you as well" she said. "How long have I been asleep?" Sparrow asked with tears in his eyes. "Three days" she said removing his tears. "Rest now because for the next ten years you'll stay here and I'll train you so that you can avenge your sister death" Theresa said. Sparrow then looked over to the dog and petted its head "I'm calling you Jake" he said. "Excuse me?" Theresa said. "The dog, that his new name Jake" Sparrow said as the dog licked his face.